The
gospel of God is the message of grace. To the self-righteous religionist, it is
a stumbling block. To the learned, philosophical worldling, it is foolishness.
Why? Because there is nothing in the gospel to gratify the pride of man. The
gospel of God declares that man can never be saved, but by the grace of God. It
declares that apart from Christ, the unspeakable gift of God’s grace, there is
no salvation, and that the state of every human being is desperate, hopeless,
and irretrievable. The gospel addresses men and women as depraved, guilty,
condemned, perishing sinners. It puts us all upon one level. The gospel
declares that the purest moralist is in the same condition as the vilest
profligate, that the zealous religionist is no better than the most profane
infidel. Without Christ, without grace, all are lost!

The
gospel addresses every descendant of Adam as a fallen, polluted, hell-bent,
hell-deserving sinner, utterly incapable of changing his ruined condition. The
grace of God in Christ is our only hope. All men, by nature, stand before God’s
holy law as justly condemned felons, awaiting the execution of his wrath upon
us (John 3:18, 36; Rom. 3:19). Our only hope is grace!

“Grace
is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the axe of
justice, so corrupt that they cannot change their own nature, so averse to God
that they cannot turn to him, so blind that they cannot see him, so deaf that
they cannot hear him, and so dead that he must himself open their graves and
lift them into resurrection” - (George S.
Bishop).

The only hope any sinner has of salvation and
eternal life is the grace of God freely bestowed upon sinners through Jesus
Christ, the sinner’s Substitute.

1. The source
and fountain of grace is God the Father (Eph. 1:3), who purposed in himself the everlasting
salvation of an elect multitude before the world began, and on behalf of that
elect multitude made a covenant of grace with his Son, ordered in all things
and sure.

2. The mediatorial channel of grace is God
the Son (John 1:17). The grace of God is revealed and given to men only by
the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. “The
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Grace
does not come through the church. Grace cannot be conferred by some
pretentious, earthly priest. And grace is not given through the ordinances of
baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Grace comes to sinners through Christ alone.

3. The only bestower of grace is God the
Holy Spirit, who is called “the
Spirit of grace” (Zech. 12:10). He is the One who applies the gospel to the
hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners by his effectual, saving power. He quickens
God’s elect while they are yet spiritually dead. He conquers the rebel’s will,
melts the hard heart, opens the blind eye, and cleanses the soul. He gives ears
to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The
gospel we preach, the gospel of God, that gospel which alone is the gospel is “the gospel of the grace of God.” It is that gospel which declares,
“Salvation is of the Lord!’